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Quick Facts
- NAME: Vincent Gigante
- OCCUPATION: Organized Crime Boss
- BIRTH DATE: March 29, 1928
- DEATH DATE: December 19, 2005
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New York City, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: Springfield, Missouri
Best Known For
Vincent gigante was an Italian-American mobster, known as "The Enigma in the Bathrobe," who led the Genovese crime family of New York City.
Vicent Louis Gigante. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 08:11, May 26, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574
Vicent Louis Gigante [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574, May 26
" Vicent Louis Gigante." 2012. Biography.com 26 May 2012, 08:11 http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574
' Vicent Louis Gigante', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574 [accessed May 26, 2012]
" Vicent Louis Gigante," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574 (accessed May 26, 2012).
Vicent Louis Gigante [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 26]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574.
Vicent Louis Gigante, http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574 (last visited May 26, 2012).
Vicent Louis Gigante, http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-gigante-12127574 (last visited May 26, 2012).
Synopsis
Vincent Gigante - known as the "Oddfather" - was an Italian-American mobster, boss of the Genovese crime family. He was known to wander the streets of Greenwich Village in a bathrobe, an elaborate act to make him seem insane. In 2003, this bizarre gangster admitted to have faked his mental problems for decades to protect him while on trial. He died in 2005 at medical center for federal prisoners.
Profile
Boxer, mob boss. Born on March 29,1928, in New York City. Known for wandering the streets in a bathrobe mumbling to himself, Vincent Gigante is one of the strangest gangsters of our time. The suspected boss of the Genovese Crime Family, his supporters say the former boxer took one too many shots to the head and was incapable of running a massive crime syndicate.
After a boxing career that lasted 24 fights, joining the Army, then being discharged for "anti-social behavior," Gigante took up a life of crime. Gigante's rise through the world of organized crime was bizarre. He was chosen by Capo Tommy Eboli to murder Genovese Family boss Frank Costello, but botched the hit. Most would have thought that this mistake would have ended Gigante's life, but inexplicably he had risen to the rank of consigliere by the mid 1970s. When Genovese Family boss Tony Salerno suffered a stroke in 1981 and took a six month hiatus to recover, it is suspected that the Genovese Family appointed Gigante as boss. Salerno was still presented as the family boss, but it was known within the organized crime world that Gignate ran the family.
After Salerno was sent to prison in 1992, Gigante was revealed as the head of the family. With no one to hide behind, Gigante resorted to a tactic he had used to beat earlier attempts at criminal convictions, he acted insane. Between 1969 and 1990, Gigante checked himself into a psychiatric hospital 22 times. The sight of Gigante walking through the streets of Greenwich Village dressed in a bathrobe and mumbling to himself became common.
This act worked until 1997, when Salvatore Gravano testified that Gigante was sane and was the head of the Genovese family. He was convicted of numerous counts related to racketeering and murder conspiracy and received a 12-year prison sentence.
After his 1997 conviction, Gigante faced new charges in 2003. He admitted that he had been faking his mental problems for roughly three decades to avoid having to stand trial. Pleading guilty to an obstruction of justice charge, Gigante received an additional three years on his original sentence.
One of the most unusual characters in criminal history, Gigante passed away on December 19, 2005, at the age of 77. He died at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.
Unlike the elaborate funerals of other crime bosses, such as John Gotti in 2002, Gigante's passing was honored quietly. His brother, Rev. Louis Gigante, a retired Roman Catholic priest, held a funeral mass for
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The Genovese Crime Family
View groupOf the storied Five Families of New York City's mafia, the Genovese family is one of the most powerful. It's believed the Genovese family provided some of the inspiration for Mario Puzo's The Godfather—both had roots in Corleone, Sicily. "Lucky" Luciano of the Genovese family first organized the Five Families in New York City, and those who came after him maintained the Genovese family status as mafia royalty.
The Genovese Crime Family 2 people in this group
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Mobsters
View groupBootleggers, smugglers, drug dealers, hit men—all these occupations are the provenance of mobsters, who operate in ethnic, family and business networks. Mobsters' real life crimes, and Hollywood's fascination with them, has earned them a special place in the American imagination. From Al Capone's Chicago crime ring to Bugsy Siegel's Las Vegas racket, these mobsters have made their names notorious from coast to coast.
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Famous Arians 481 people in this group
